Both manually and mechanically harvested citrus have various percentages of plant material, such as leaves and twigs, within their harvested loads that are transported to processing facilities. Such plant material can be infected with diseases such as citrus canker, black spot, and other potential bacterial or fungal diseases (e.g., citrus scab, phytophthora, alternaria brown spot, etc.). The infected material can blow out of the trailers, thus increasing the risk for disease development in other areas of the citrus industry.
Serious measures must be taken to avoid the spread of such diseases. Unfortunately, there is no commercial equipment available that can accomplish this task cost effectively.